Day 26

And going a little farther He fell on His face and prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, strengthening Him. Matthew 26:39; Luke 22:43 (From the Gospel of the Vesperal Liturgy on Holy Thursday Morning)

In reading today’s scripture passage, I wondered if there is a passage in scripture that is more of a polar opposite to the ideals of society than today’s. We see Jesus, facing an agonizing and terrible death, asking for it to be taken away from Him.

If we think back in our lives, I am sure there are moments when we have felt like this. Maybe not to this extent, but we have all had things happen to us that we wish would not have taken place.

But listen to the words of Jesus, really, read them again: “…nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”

How many times in our lives have we said something similar? Hve we ever said that? As human beings, we are often, if not always, caught up in our wants and our desires. Some of our wants and desires are good. We want health for us and our family and friends. We want to have the things we need to survive. We want to be happy. Certainly there is nothing wrong with any of these things.

But what about what God wants, what about God’s will? In his first Epistle to Timothy, St. Paul says that Jesus “…desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” This is God’s will, this is what God wants for us, each and every one of us.

This brings us to one of Fr. Stavros points in his reflection today. We must have trust in God. I’m not going to tell you that this trust is easy. I struggle with it myself on a daily basis. I struggled with it on my road to the priesthood. But I can tell you this, every time I am able to help someone, every time I can show them the joy of Christ, every time I can comfort and bring peace to them, I know that being obedient to God’s will is what has given me that opportunity.

Society tells us that what is important is what WE want, what WE desire. In fact, it tends to pound that message into our heads. Even if those wants and desires are the opposite of the teachings of the Church, we are told that as long as we aren’t harming anyone around us, then our wants and desires are fine.

Fr. Stavros makes a comparison to a parent who allows their child to have pizza or French fries for every meal. As a parent, we would never do this. It is not good for our child. There is no way that hurts or affects anyone else, but it does affect the child. In the same way, when we do things that are contrary to what the Church teaches, they might not affect those around us, but they certainly affect us. They affect the possibility of our salvation.

It can be hard to be a Christian in today’s world. It is not hard like in the early Church. We don’t risk death, at least not here in our country, but it can be difficult. But as we see today, when we do God’s will, He is with us, to comfort us, to help us to strengthen us. When we do God’s will, we move towards salvation.

Accept the “cup” of salvation today.

In Christ

Fr. David